Instructor: Adriana Todea

atodea@yahoo.com
Office hours: Friday 2-3 p.m., Alpha Centre room

Introduction to Generative Grammar

Course 7: Structural relations: Dominance, precedence, c-command,
m-command, and government.
WEEK 10
Outline1
The Projection Principle: words (lexical entries) have syntactic power,
that is, the lexical valence of X (V, N, A, Adv, P, I, C) projects XP (VP,
NP, AP, AdvP, PP, IP, CP), according to the X-bar model.
Case-marking and theta-marking show that certain constituents are
assigned case and theta-roles by other constituents. Such a relation
of power among constituents in a phrase is called government.
Government is a binary relation between a governor and a governee.
John will give the book by Chomsky to Maria
Nom.
Acc.
Acc.
Acc.
Agent
Theme
Beneficiary

tomorrow.
Temporal

In Generative grammar government is explained as deriving from the

binary-tree structure of syntax. Therefore, it must be based on
relations inherent in the structure, hence structural relations.
The structural relation that describes a binary tree vertically is
dominance. In terms of the genealogical metaphor used in GG,
dominance means motherhood.
Definition: Node A dominates node B
iff (if and only if)
node A is higher in the tree than B;
and a line (route) can be traced from A
to B going only downwards.
You find in this outline the content of the slides that I project during the course,
which contain the main topics and also structures and diagrams which may be difficult
and time consuming for you to copy during my lecture. They are made available to you
before class to save time and to make note-taking easier, but not unnecessary!
The outline as such (without your notes covering the detailed explanations that I give
during the course) cannot constitute a sufficient source of information when preparing
for the exam. If you miss the class, it is strongly recommended that this outline be used
as a guide to the bibliography indicated at the end of this document.
1

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Precedence describes the left-right ordering of constituents in a tree;

it describes the tree from a horizontal perspective.
Definition: Node A precedes node B
iff
there is no dominance between A and B;
and A is to the left of B.

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C-command
Definition: Node A c-commands node B
iff
there is no dominance between A and B;
and the first branching node dominating A
also dominates B.
NOTE: A branching node is a node with two descendents (daughters).

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Government: sisterhood and mutual c-command

Predicates (projectors, heads) control other constituents in a phrase
by theta-marking and case-marking them.

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Refine the first definition of government from sisterhood to mutual ccommand.

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Extending c-command to m-command

C-command: Node A c-commands node B

iff
there is no dominance between A and B;
and the first branching node dominating A
also dominates B.

M-command: Node A m-commands node B

iff
there is no dominance between A and B;
and the first maximal projection dominating A
also dominates B.

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Conclusions:
Government is a binary relation between the head (projector) and the
other constituents in the phrase it projects. Exceptionally, a governing
domain of a head can extend into a phrase projected by a week
governor (a non-finite inflection).
Government is a syntactic relation based on rules that are inherent in
a binary tree (structural relations).
Refined definition of government:
Node A governs node B
iff
node A is a governor;
node A m-commands node B;
and there is no barrier between A and B.
NOTE: 1. Only heads can be governors;
2. maximal projections are barriers to government;
3. non-finite inflection phrases are not barriers to
government.
Bibliography:
Haegeman, Liliane (1991) Introduction to Government and Binding
Theory, Basil Blackwell, pp.73-77; 113-126
(You can find it in the Generative Grammar dossier at the library.)

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